Between the longevity of lamination materials—from fiberglass and resin to carbon fiber and epoxy—and the lofty prices of new builds, restoring high-performance catamarans and V-bottoms keeps Upstate Powerboat founder Phil Hess and his crew busy year-round. Hess started his powerboat restoration, renovation and paint business on his own in Port Byron, N.Y., more than 10 years ago. Now he works alongside a full crew of talented craftsmen.
His most recent project is renovating, from body work to paint, a late-1990s-built 28-foot Skater catamaran. Originally built as a raceboat, the canopied cat was powered by outboard engines when it left the factory. But when Hess and company get done and return the now-open-cockpit cat to its Texas-based owner, it will be ready for installation of its new interior and stern-drive engines.

“Originally it was going to just be a windshield and a simple paint job,” Hess recalled. “Once the boat got here, it was evident that it was in significantly worse shape than expected. A lot of these boats live hard lives and this one was no exception.”
Major work included removing and replacing a combined 30 feet of hullside, as well the cat’s rotted sponson tips. Hess and his crew replaced the 28-footer’s coring with fresh material and Skater-spec laminates and vacuumed-bagged it all together “to ensure proper strength.”
Though Hess and his crew have restored boats from a variety of builders, Skater catamarans and Cigarette V-bottoms account for much Upstate Powerboat’s workload. In 2023, they took on 17 Skater projects alone. Fans of his Hess’ include high-performance pleasure-boat owner and, at least at the moment, retired Super Stock-class offshore racer Loren Peters.

Since 2014, Hess has done extensive work for Peters on his former 32-foot Doug Wright raceboat and his 42-foot MTI pleasure catamaran.
“I can’t say enough good things about Phil and how far he’s come,” said Peters. “He’s doing really good work.”
Peters is far from alone in is assessment of now-30-year-old Hess. Just ask New York’s Scott Grants, who involved Upstate Powerboat in the renovation of his 2006 model-year Skater 40 SS catamaran called Barbedwire in 2023.

“Upstate Powerboat exceeded our expectations with the boat,” Grants said. “Phil and his team created a masterpiece of color. And their repair work was excellent. The sheer size of a 40SS is impressive but when you add three dimensional colors as vibrant as they did, it’s simply awe-inspiring to see.
“We didn’t know Phil when we bought the boat, but we’ve been impressed with him since the first time we visited his shop,” he added.
Though Hess lacks for neither competence or confidence, he is quick to credit his crew.
“Every one of my guys has an integral role in each build—we don’t use cheap labor,” he said. “At any time, any customer could have a detailed conversation with any of the guys here about what they are doing and why because they have a vast understanding of the process.
“Our team is top-tier,” he added. “They love boats. And they love this industry.”
